“Sarah Palin – You Betcha” Review: Less Hit Job, More Frivolity

"Sarah Palin - You Betcha" Review: Less Hit Job, More Frivolity

With the release of Nick Broomfield’s “Sarah Palin – You Betcha” this weekend, I’ve updated this post to reflect some further thoughts on the movie. At the film’s Toronto film festival premiere, I reviewed the Broomfield doc for Screen Daily, and was, admittedly, less than impressed.

“More of a lark than a revealing expose,” I wrote, “Broomfield offers few devastating punches. Instead, this mildly amusing documentary assembles a ‘greatest hits’ of Palin gaffes and embarrassments, intercut with verite-style interviews with a small handful of people who have known the former Alaskan governor or worked with her.”

But while ultimately a slight diversion, I think it’s important to give Broomfield credit for making good on one compelling argument:

“A chorus of voices, too many to be discounted, bring up Palin’s ‘you’re-with-us-or-against-us’ attitude that lead to innumerable firings and feuds throughout her political career,” I wrote. “In a phrase heard repeatedly throughout the film, Alaskan State Republican Senator Lyda Green says she wants to write a book about Palin called ‘Under the Bus’ for the number of people that Palin has used and then thrown away. There’s some strong supporting testimony in this regard from former Palin supporter John Bitney and Walt Monegan, a man who was fired over the so-called ‘Troopergate’ scandal, and who legitimately seems to have been railroaded by Palin.”

And for what it’s worth, it’s nice to have some counter-propaganda out there to compensate for Stephen Bannon’s recently released hagiography “The Undefeated.”